Carroll Shelby Sues Shelby Owners Club (SAAC)

The ongoing battle of Carroll Shelby vs. The Shelby Owners Club (SAAC) has reached flash point with Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., (CSL) and Carroll Hall Shelby Trust (Shelby Trust) filing a lawsuit against the organization formerly known as the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC), which is owned and operated by Ken Eber and Rick Kopec.

“In the lawsuit, CSL and the Shelby Trust filed for Declaratory Relief, Breach of Contract and Preliminary and Permanent Injunction against the organization owned by Eber and Kopec.” Read the press release. This means all usage of Carroll Shelby & Cobra logos, names and merchandise must cease.

In December Shelby also accused the two of selling memorabilia that was loaned to the club by Shelby. The stem of the whole fued revolves around money, with Shelby quoted as saying ” [They] never counted me in on anything.”

We will closely monitor the case and hopefully common sense prevails and Shelby drops the case.

Here’s the full press release:

PRESS RELEASE:
Gardena, Calif. – January 31, 2008 – Carroll Shelby Licensing Inc., (CSL) and Carroll Hall Shelby Trust (Shelby Trust) filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on January 29, 2008, against the organization formerly known as the Shelby American Automobile Club (SAAC), which is owned and operated by Ken Eber and Rick Kopec. In the lawsuit, CSL and the Shelby Trust filed for Declaratory Relief, Breach of Contract and Preliminary and Permanent Injunction against the organization owned by Eber and Kopec.

As outlined in a news release dated December 7, 2007, CSL announced that it had determined not to renew its written license agreement with the organization then known as SAAC. That decision was based, among other business considerations, on a continued disregard for the license agreement requirements. The annual, year-to-year agreement was personally signed by Eber and Kopec on behalf of their club in 1999.

In light of the organization’s repeated claims that it did not recognize, and even had no intention of recognizing the termination of the licensing agreement and that it planned to continue the unauthorized use of trademarks owned by the Shelby Trust and licensed exclusively by CSL, officials with the Shelby Trust and CSL had no other recourse than to file suit. In their filing, CSL and the Shelby Trust seek a declaration from the court that will compel the enforcement of the terms of the licensing agreement both before and after its termination.